


The blue skies of Malibu

by Wiggle1980



Category: Miley Cyrus (Musician)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-23
Updated: 2020-03-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:02:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22371502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wiggle1980/pseuds/Wiggle1980
Summary: Hans had everything...former NBA superstar, lots of money, famous friends and his own tv production company. Little did he know that a simple photoshoot for the animal rights organization PETA, together with the notorious young popstar Miley Cyrus, was about to change his life forever.
Kudos: 2





	1. Return to the city of angels

1\. Return to the city of angels

It felt great to be back in the city he considered to be his second home. Finally back to the sunshine and good weather in the middle of March after the never ending rain and freezing cold in Luxembourg. It has been a long day, a 12 hours flight with a 2,5 hours stopover in Switzerland…all in all, Hans had just arrived after an 18 hours journey, and adding to this came the time difference of a whopping 9 hours. The only thing he wanted to do now was order some Chinese food, take a shower, maybe watch a movie and go to sleep.

But first, he was inspecting the house, since he hasn't been here for about 6 months. Hans was a former NBA superstar, who had to end his career at the age of 32 due to a devastating knee injury. After 13 seasons, he was a 12x All Star, 6x All NBA First Team, 1x Regular Season MVP, and he was holding pretty much every record concerning Points, Assists, Steals and games played for his former franchise. Also in college, he was pretty successful, even if he only spent two years there. In his second year, he lead his team to the NCAA championship and was voted MOP (Most Outstanding player) of the Final Four, and also most valuable player of the regular season. He was considered being one of the top two European players of all time and a year ago, he was voted on position 24 on a list of the best players of all time. He was denied a higher rank because he stayed all his career, even though he had many offers from the big franchises, with the Orlando Magic. Since the Florida franchise was one of the smaller markets, he never got the same attention like Kobe Bryant, Lebron James or Shaquille O'Neal. And yet, he was more than happy and grateful for the career he had, even though he never managed to win an NBA championship.

After his career, he officially moved to LA, because he took over a production company. It firstly happened out of tax reasons, but meanwhile, his company made its way to being the most successful one when it came to movie production, so that nowadays, a lot of Hollywood's well known stars were part of his American circle of friends. Part of this circle where the likes of Will Smith, Brad Pitt, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert Downey Jr, Leonardo Di Caprio or Justin Timberlake. He also was one of the co-founders of one of the biggest internet companies in the world, and he made a lot of money when he sold his shares a couple of years ago.

Apart from the financial reasons, he just liked California better than Florida. The dry heat, the people, the cities, the beach, the Californian way of living…he still loved the city of Orlando and its people, he still owned a house there, but you have to say that he only spend 1-2 weeks a year in Disneytown. He spent the last 6 months in his homeland Luxembourg, working hard in rehab to strengthen his knee again. According to his doctors, he really managed to make a full recovery, and once this information got out, several title candidats started offering him contracts again to strengthen their roster for the upcoming playoffs. Hans knew though that he was mentally done with his career, and more importantly, he couldn't see himself ever wear a different jersey than the Orlando Magic one. The last offer he got came from the Golden State Warriors, the dominant team of the last 4 seasons, and had he signed that contract, it would have been almost certain that he would finally be able to get his ring. But deep inside, he knew that it just wouldn't feel right, and that's why, after a couple of days, he politely declined the offer.

After ordering his dinner for 7pm, he had about 90 minutes left before the delivery boy would knock at the door. He decided to take a bath instead of showering, and the plan was to finish the book he started to read during the flight, but in the end, he just enjoyed closing his eyes for a bit and thinking back at how lucky he was in younger years and how he became one of the richest people on this planet.

When he turned 16, he came to the States and joined a small high school in Orange County, California. On one side, to play basketball of course, on the other side, because his relationship with his parents wasn't the best. There was nobody to blame but himself, he was just a bit difficult as a young teenager. Being in a foreign country, thousands of miles away from home, something happened what couldn't be expected. He matured into a responsible young man and at the same time, his basketball talents seemed to explode. In the blink of an eye, he developed into a national phenomenon and he was considered to be one of the most talented young players worldwide. What changed his life forever though was the encounter of two young nerds in his junior year, the complete outsiders of his school.

Being a basketball player provided a lot of privileges. All of his teachers were eager to provide him the best grades without having to work too hard in the classroom. So, when it came down to a group project, he got placed together with the class geniuses. Being a 17 year old basketball star for his school, he was living in a nice house at the beach, provided by a former student who grew up to become a multi-millionaire. So he invited his 2 classmates for Thursday evening to work together on their project. When they rang at his door 3 days later, it appeared that the two of them had already finished all the work and only wanted to go over the couple of sentences he would have to say during the presentation next Monday…which he found very thoughtful of them.

The first thing that Hans noticed about them was how shy they were in his presence. He later found out that this was due to the constant mobbing they had to endure almost every day in school.

But having a lot of free time to their disposal now, Hans spontaneously asked them if they would like to stay for a while and play some video games, more precisely Borderlands, a first person shooter that could be played by up to four players in a split screen mode. In the beginning, the nerds were hesitating a bit, but in the end they agreed, and what happened over the next 3 hours left Hans with mixed feelings. Happy to see how Larry and Sergej started to open up, relax and become more comfortable in his presence, but he was also sad to know that these two so-called nerds were just like every other regular teen, they just never had the opportunity to be themselves, only because they weren't into the usual things like alcohol, party, sports and cars.

The next day was one of the rare occasions where Hans found the time to eat in the school canteen, and as soon as he entered the room, he could see what was going on. Larry and Sergej were sitting on their usual table in the corner, close by was a group of other students, consisting of the typical Californian jerks. Fancy clothes, rich parents, pretty girls you had to impress…always looking for an easy victim they could torture.

Once Hans got his tray with the food (for which he thanked the lady working behind the counter with a big smile, which seemed to be pretty unusual giving her happy face), he made his way to the corner table, just in time as it seemed.

"Now tell me, since when are such retards allowed to eat here? Shouldn't you be sitting outside with the…"

"Hey, what's up guys? Do you mind if I join you?" Hans interrupted the leader of the group. "We still have to discuss a couple of things about our group project". This was a straight lie, as their work couldn't get any more perfect.

„Hey, asshole, in case you didn't notice, but I was talking to this stupid bobble heads." Wow, either this bully was completely ignorant or just straight out stupid…

"Oh sorry, I didn't notice. But just go on, keep talking. I won't interrupt you anymore. Unless you're trying to harass my two friends here, then we might have a problem" he added in a threatening tone.

„Come on Chad, just let us leave" one of the girls tried to bring him to reason.

„Why? You think I'm scared, just because these stupid retards have enough people together for their threesome now?" he replied with an evil grin.

That's when the girl whispered a few words into Chad's ear (what kind of stupid name is that anyway?), and in the blink of an eye, Chad's arrogance was replaced by complete panic. Unlike the bully, the girl knew exactly who Hans was, and even if Chad didn't seem to be the brightest student of the school, he was pretty well aware of the fact that it would be suicidal to start a feud with the captain of the basketball team.

Trying to avoid losing all his dignity, he spat a couple of words towards Hans before he turned around and left with the rest of his group.

"Well well, there he goes. And I already thought we could make a couple of new friends" Hans said with a big grin in his face.

"Thank you. I was sure our lunch would be over again before it even started…"

„Oh, this happened already before?"

„Only like 4 times a week"

„If it's a good week"

"Man, I had no clue. Guess we'll have to eat together more often then. But I don't think they gonna bother you again. Something else, it may be a bit spontaneous, but you already have plans for tonight?"

„Not really no, maybe watch a movie or something, why?"

„We still have to finish our Borderlands session. To be honest, I really loved playing with you guys, so I thought we might keep it going?"

"Are you serious about this? There's no party you have to go to? Or maybe organize one to mock the nerds in front of everyone else?"

"Whoa, guys, take it easy…you really must have been through a lot. But don't worry, we have practice tomorrow and a game on Sunday, so we're not even allowed to go out and drink. I mean, come on, I really like you boys and I thought it could be cool. Let's just say 7pm at my place? I'll organize food and snacks, and you'll bring the drinks. No alcohol though, at least not for me.

„Ok, why not…?" Larry still wasn't convinced, but Hans could see that he was willing to give it a go.

Over the next months, the 3 of them became close friends, and after a while, Larry and Sergej also got to know the rest of the team. They became more confident, made new friends and there was no more sign of bullying. The Playstation nights became something like a tradition, and during one of these sessions, when they were stuck at a difficult level, Hans said out of the blue how convenient it would be if there were would exist a program where you could simply enter a question about this game, and the program would search the entire internet and present you the results. And, as a bonus, add the closest pizza delivery services.

He said this just out of frustration with no deeper meaning to it, but his two friends just looked at each other and whispered :"That's genius…". A few weeks later they showed him a first basic version of an internet searching machine, where you could enter some keywords, and this program would search the whole World Wide Web for results.

A couple of months later, after they all graduated high school, Hans moved on to the UCLA University working on his basketball career, whereas his friends made it to Stanford University, one of the best universities worldwide when it came to IT technologies. During prom night, they surprised Hans with a contract, making him the owner of 33% of the shares of a newly founded company. First, he wanted to decline their offer, because they became really close and he was just happy he was able to help them. But they wouldn't let go, so he finally signed the contract. 7 years later, Hans should finally find out why this meant so much to his friends. Since their company had an unbelievable success from the start, Larry and Sergej never finished university, but they were celebrated as the youngest honor graduates in the history of their high school. Of course, Hans was invited to the ceremony, and what Larry revealed during his speech left the NBA Superstar, for the first time in years, completely speechless.

„For a lot of you, high school will give you the best time and best memories you'll ever have in your life. But my speech is directed to all of you for who this time represents the complete opposite. For Sergej and me, high school wasn't about party, making new friends and endless summers. Hostilities, mobbing, physical abuse, there wasn't anything we didn't experience. More or less one and a half years before graduation, Sergej and me were assigned in a group project with one of the schools biggest sport stars…probably because, please don't take this in a bad way my old friend, he was supposed to get a good grade without having to work too much for it. So we prepared the presentation in a way he would just have to say a couple of easy sentences in order to get him his A grade. In the evening, we went to his home to show him our work and teach him his task. This would have taken about 2 minutes. What happened afterwards should change the rest of both our lives. We were sure that he, the star of our school, would just want to get rid of us as fast as possible, without thanking us for saving his ass. What he really did was inviting us to stay at his place and play video games since all the work was already done.

On the next day, we had to endure the usual mockery and teasing. Up to that moment that our new friend walked into the room and put himself between us and a group of 8 people. Next thing, he invited us, again, to his house, on a Friday evening. Can you imagine that this was the first time ever in our entire life, that someone invited us on a Friday night? After realizing that he was really serious about this, we were still hesitating to accept. Not because we didn't trust him, we knew right away what a great guy he was and that we could trust him. To this day, only our parents know the real reason why. On this said Friday evening, Sergej and I had planned to kill ourselves. First, we decided to postpone our suicide for a day. Why not just enjoy a last fun evening? One evening became two, a whole week, a month…and all of a sudden, high school was over. We had almost two wonderful years, found many new friends, mainly from the basketball team. We formed friendships that will last a lifetime. On the one hand, I'm telling you this to give courage to all of you who feel different, locked out, who have to go through hell every single day and think they can't bear it any longer. Let me tell you one thing. It will get better. Maybe not tomorrow, maybe not this month, maybe even not in this school. But in the end it will pay out to stay strong, to keep going, because one day there will be this moment that changes everything, that makes your life worth living again.

On the other hand, we finally wanted to show our friend, who's in the audience tonight, how much he influenced and changed our lives. Without any prejudices he was ready to give us a chance and to get to know us as the persons that we really were. He didn't only become our friend, but our protector and the big brother neither of us ever had. Without you, Hans, we would be lying somewhere in a cold grave, only missed by our parents. Moreover it was him who gave us the initial idea for the development of our search engine and foundation of our company. And after everything I just told you, there are only two things left for me to say. To those of you who think this school is an endless hellhole, let me beg you, stay strong, it's worth staying alive and to fight. And to our friend Hans, thank you for being there when we were in desperate need of a real friend. Thank you for saving our lives."

Hans sat in his chair, like he was frozen. He couldn't talk or move. Of the corners of his eyes, he could see how Larry's parents were looking over to him, with tears in their eyes. They knew this story now for several years, and finally they would be able to show their gratitude. Hans was very well aware that his two friends didn't really have an easy time in high school before he took them under his wings. But since they blossomed into confident young men and became more and more popular, he had no idea how bad it really was when he first met them.

After Larry was done with his speech and they met in a quiet corner, Hans gave a hug to his friends, and all he was able to say was :"Jesus, I had no idea."

"And you never should, but we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to show kids like us that it is worth to fight, to never give up. And we actually meant to tell you about this already a long time ago, but we never really knew how."

A few moments later, Larry's parents came around the corner, and while his father was still searching for words, his mother just wrapped her arms around Hans and after a couple of seconds, he was afraid that she would never let him go again.

Before it was time to say goodbye again, his friends wanted to have a word in privat with Hans.

"Listen, it's been a while now that you're almost begging us to take back your part of the shares, and we think we found the perfect solution. We won't just take your shares back like that, but we insist on paying you their actual market value. Furthermore, we want to keep you as a member of the board which would consist of the three of us. You would probably only be a pro forma member, but we absolutely want to keep you as our partner."

„Look guys, I know you mean well. And I will gladly accept to become a member of the board, but you know that you don't have to pay me anything. I was helping you because you're my friends, and I would do the same thing over and over again."

"And that's exactly why we want you to accept our offer. You earned it. Anyway, we already signed the check and deposited at your bank, you can't refuse anymore. By the way, here's a copy of it."

„If it really means that much to you, then I'll take your handful of dollars I guess" Hans replied with a grin, took the check, and his face turned pale and his heart nearly jumped out of his chest.

"You're kidding?" he shouted out in disbelief.

„One third of the shares according to the market price. In all seriousness."

In his hands, Hans was holding a check over 18 billion US dollars. His two friends were Larry Page and Sergej Brin, founder of Google and its parent company Alphabet, furthermore they were two of the richest people on the planet.

And this is the story how Hans too, became one of the richest men on Earth. Taking in account the revenue of his NBA career (salary and personal sponsors) and the money from his Google shares, his fortune was estimated at 18.4 billion US dollars, which put him on 31st position in the worldwide Forbes ranking. Add his good looks and his well-mannered character, you had to admit that this young man was…now that prince Harry finally got married…the most popular bachelor in the United States, if not in the entire world.

After finishing his dinner (the delivery boy was more than surprised that Hans ordered his food at such a cheap restaurant, but hey, better cheap and good than expensive and not tasty), he was thinking about the plan for the next days. Actually, he was supposed to be back in LA in about two months, but he was contacted by the Animal Protection Organization PETA, if he could imagine taking part in a campaign to support animal rights. Lots of other former or active sport stars like David Beckham, Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Wayne Gretzky, Maria Sharapova or Lionel Messi already accepted to take part in it. The only thing that surprised Hans a bit was that he was supposed to be put on a poster together with Miley Cyrus. Miley was one of the most well-known and notorious young popstars in the world, but over the last 5 or 6 years, she was having a lot of reputation issues (mildly expressed). She started her career by playing the main part in the Disney sitcom Hannah Montana. This was so successful that they were producing movies and music albums with the main character that was played by Miley, who, as a consequence, became Americas Sweetheart. After reaching a certain age, she tried to get rid of this image, but in Hans opinion, she completely exaggerated. Glorification of drug abuse, fake friends, passing out at parties, provocations in public, affairs and nude pics etc, etc…Hans couldn't really say that he was looking forward to this shooting. But since he loved animals, it was out of question for him to cancel his participation. The shooting would be the day after tomorrow, so that he had one day left to get a good rest and settle in again.

Since Hans was a very social human being and he hadn't seen his American friends for more than 6 months, he invited some of them, Will Smith, David Beckham and Kobe Bryant to a barbecue evening. It actually seemed like a little wonder that they were all available, and it turned out to be a really nice and relax evening among friends, and if you wouldn't have known, you never guessed that these guys were famous superstars and (at least) multi-millionaires. But when it came to barbecue, all men were the same…it was all about meat and alcohol, sometimes their intelligence dropped to a frightening low level, and they didn't talk about anything but girls, sports and cars. Pretty boring, but you could make every male human being on this planet happy with it.

As the evening came to an end, Will was the only one staying (which wasn't surprising, due to the fact that he was Hans neighbor) and the inevitably talk about Hans future came up again, especially girlfriend and marriage. Somehow, Will seemed to be very determined to put him on the leash.

"So, tell me. No more liabilities, no more appointments, no more pressure…wouldn't that be the perfect time to settle down and start a family?"

"Oh come on Will. You know that I wanna enjoy life for a couple of years before I start looking for a partner. Definitely not before I'm 35. I mean, you did the same after you were done shooting The Prince of Bel Air."

"And that was the worst decision I ever made in my entire life. Trust me, if you would meet the right woman for you tomorrow, your plans of enjoying your single life would be gone in the blink of an eye" Will was teasing his friend.

"Haha, I'm just happy for now that this definitely won't happen" Hans replied with a laugh, having no idea how much the following day would turn his life around.


	2. An unforgettable photoshoot

An unforgettable photoshoot

On Wednesday morning, Hans had to get up pretty early, at least as far as he was concerned. At 09:30am, a driver was waiting for him at the entrance to his mansion, to drive him to the photoshoot. This would take place somewhere close to the top of the Hollywood Hills, in the private residence of a well-known movie director. Hans could have just walked over there, but since American people have to use a car even for the shortest distance, this thought didn't even cross the mind of the organizers.

Once he arrived at the huge villa on top of the Hollywood Hills, Hans had to admit that everything was very stylish decorated, just way too big for his own taste. It was owned by a certain Steven Spielberg, and the value was estimated at around 75 million USD. All of a sudden, Hans felt pretty humble with his small 16 million dollar mansion.

10 minutes later, he had introduced himself to everybody and the photographer briefed him about what would be expected from him, and what kind of pictures they wanted to use for their campaign. Since this time it was about putting the spotlight on the prominent supporters of this campaign, they should be photographed in a way that people would recognize them immediately. Hans in a basketball uniform, Miley in some kind of stage outfit.

After everything was discussed and set up, the only thing, or rather the only one missing, was Miley Cyrus herself. Quite amused, Hans thought for himself that this was probably the biggest difference between athletes and artists. As an athlete, you got drilled during your whole career to always be on time. For an artist, it sometimes seemed to be part of their performance to show up at least half an hour late.

Surprisingly, it turned out she was only 25 minutes late. And Hans had to admit that, on first sight, he was pretty impressed. Miley was dressed like a normal 24 year old girl, she didn't seem to be drunk or high, and she even didn't show any kind of attitude.

After the team presented itself to Miley and briefed her what would be expected from her, she and her manager came over to Hans.

„Mister Hansen, I have the pleasure to introduce you to Miss Miley Cyrus, your partner for this photoshoot."

"Jesus, why so formally?" asked Hans with a grin, "if we have to work together anyway, I hope I can just call you Miley?"

"I guess I can make an exception for you" Miley replied. This could have sounded somewhat arrogant, but she added a bright smile to this statement and greeted Hans with two kisses on the cheek. He realized a bit surprised that they felt really nice, additional to that, she was smelling really good, which was, according to a recent article that he read before the shooting, not always the case. He even liked the sound of her voice, although until now, he always had the opinion that her singing sounded a bit like Donald Duck, in reality though, it sounded friendly and warm.

"Maybe this turns out to be not that bad after all" Hans was thinking. And it really ended up being an amazing day. The two of them hit it off right from the start, and when Miley finally changed into her stage outfit, Hans didn't know what to say or where to look. She looked absolutely stunning and the chemistry was really great between them. During a short break, Miley's manager came over to Hans and jokingly said that she was thinking about making him a job offer. She never saw Miley being so calm, friendly, open and so easy to handle.

Hans surely wasn't completely innocent when it came to having affairs, during his basketball career he had some short-lived adventures with two Victoria Secret models and a very well-known young Hollywood actress. But he also wasn't the Casanova type of guy whose goal it was to seduce as many young women as he could. He was just the type of guy that women couldn't resist. Of course he was an NBA superstar, fairytale rich, but he also was, for such a wealthy and famous person, very humble and easy to handle. He was always friendly, charming, treated every person with respect, no matter if it was a famous actor like Will Smith or a waiter in a small family restaurant. He just had a shiny personality and people loved to be in his company, especially women. Last but not least, as a former professional athlete, he had a very well-shaped body and all in all you could say he was very good looking.

Miley though managed to put him completely out of his comfort zone, especially when they started taking the pictures that requested physical contact to get them done the right way. He couldn't remember the last time his body showed such a reaction to another human being. His heart was pumping, he savored every little touch and just enjoyed feeling her body against his.

What kept surprising him the most though was the fact how good they really got along. During every short break they were talking to each other, about why they took part in this campaign, what pets they had as children but also about their lives in general. Hans was really disappointed and also a bit sad when the shooting came to an end. Luckily, Miley suggested to have a late lunch together. They had been working for about 4 hours and didn't get anything to eat.

So they went together to an Italian restaurant that was located close to the Hollywood Hills, and Hans was only shortly upset that Miley's manager and some other crew members joined in, as the young pop star immediately sat down right next to him. It was a pretty well-known restaurant, and it didn't take long for Hans to find out that Miley was strictly vegetarian, but luckily didn't judge anyone who liked to eat meat.

During lunch, the two young stars were talking without a break, and Hans got to know a lot about Miley's life, from her beginnings as Hannah Montana all the way to recent times where she was trying to establish herself as a more grown up artist. On this occasion, her manager jumped in shortly to remind Miley that she shouldn't present this photoshoot in a too childish way on her Instagram. She also shouldn't forget that she was supposed to attend a trendy party later that night in LA and therefore not eat a lot now, so she wouldn't have to consume that much alcohol. Hans couldn't really believe what he just heard, but he didn't say anything cause it was none of his business. But he couldn't help but notice a certain sadness in Miley's voice when they were talking about her career after Hannah Montana, and he was wondering if this whole change of image was really her idea or rather the one of her management. But since it was the first time he ever met this girl, he decided to keep silent about it.

When this lunch approached its end, Hans gathered all his courage and asked Miley to exchange phone numbers, maybe they could stay in contact. Usually, he never had any problems asking girls for their number, but this time he was kind of amused when he realized that he hadn't been this anxious in years. Luckily, she immediately agreed, and after a warm farewell hug, he didn't call a cab but really walked home on his own feet which took him about 30 minutes.

Over the next days, he couldn't stop thinking about the photoshoot and lunch, and he couldn't deny that he wanted to see this brat (or at least that was what he was thinking before meeting her) again, no matter what. He desperately thought about different scenarios that would give him a reason to write her a message, when suddenly his smartphone vibrated and he received a Whats App message from Miley. Surprised, he opened the message, and what he was reading instantly brightened his day.

„Hi there, I hope you were able to recover from having to spend the day with me? I just wanted to ask if you might feel like going to Bungalows tonight? I'm going to attend a party there, would be cool to hang out again."

Hans usually wasn't too keen on going to parties, Vegas was the only exception, he somehow loved this city with all its crazy possibilities to have a good time…he smilingly thought about a whole weekend that cost him about 200.000$...and he didn't regret having spent a single one of them. But if this gave him the opportunity to see Miley again, he was more than willing to give it a shot. He still made sure to have a plan B, just in case their second meeting would turn out to be a complete disaster, and contacted a couple of friends to see if they might be interested in jumping in, and he really found a couple who were planning on going there anyway. Nowadays, when Hans pictured a perfect night out, he was rather thinking about something like the barbecue he was having last night with his friends, going to a restaurant and a movie afterwards, or maybe just spending time with friends and family. Nevertheless, he was smiling when he texted her back:

"It took me a couple of days, but I have. And, sure, why not? It's been a while since I last plunged into LA's nightlife, would be about time again."

Since he still had a couple of hours left, he invited his friends for dinner, so they could show up at the club together. He also contacted the manager of the Bungalows, so that he was put on the VIP guest list, one of the many advantages that came with fame and wealth. What also worked to his favor was the fact that America loved Cinderella stories like his. Coming from Europe as an unknown teenager, working his way up to one of the nation's most hyped young basketball talents, accepting to play for a small college that he led to a national championship, and stayed loyal to the franchise that drafted him for his entire career, the Orlando Magic. He also never produced any scandals, and people were just happy to see how grateful he was for the life that the United States offered to him. These were some of the reasons why his fans loved him and were just happy whenever he showed up. Of course you didn't make it to the top, self-made billionaire and NBA superstar, without using your elbows from time to time, but unlike a lot of people, he only did this when it was absolutely necessary, and when it came to helping friends or employees, he was always more than willing to do what he could. In other words, America loved this young man who was born in one of the smallest countries in the world.


	3. An unpleasant night out

An unpleasant night out

Later that evening, when Hans and his friends arrived at the club, he was first taking a couple of drinks with them before he started to look for Miley (he didn't want to seem too desperate). The Bungalows was one of the few nightclubs that he really liked. It wasn't the typical overcrowded one or two room club with the music playing so loud that you couldn't have a proper conversation with anyone. It looked more like a cottage in the countryside, with an open space on every site and in between was the house with different rooms. Living room, billiard room, library, dinner room and a couple of bars with enough seating possibilities to sit down with your friends and have a conversation, you even had some ping pong tables outside.

When he finally found her, he immediately had a bad feeling. Miley was together with her notorious girl gang, consisting of Paris Hilton, Amanda Bines and Lindsay Lohan. Since he was trying to get some information about Miley over the last days, he read a lot about these girls. They produced scandals on a weekly basis (at least) and Hans was sure that they were not really Miley's friends, but only spent time with her to get into the spotlight of the media. Because wherever Miley showed up, the paparazzi would be waiting for her.

Miley seemed to be pretty drunk already, at least she didn't have full control of her movements anymore. Since Hans was already here, he didn't want to sneak away like a coward, so he went over to the group. Miley saw him coming and yelled at him:

"There you are, so the party can finally start"

She put her arms around his neck and kissed him on the mouth. Hans had to think back to the kisses he got a few days ago at the photoshoot, and, even though this one was one the mouth and not on the cheeks, it felt completely different. Miley's breath smelled like a mixture of alcohol, weed, sweat and nicotine, which was a pretty filthy combination. The other girls immediately jumped in and he was forced to have a drink with them, afterwards it was mainly Paris Hilton who became very clingy. She wanted to know everything about his personal life, touched him every time she could and tried to take as many pictures as possible. Hans was pretty sure that it wouldn't take long before they would be, according to Paris's Instagram account, best friends or even madly in love.

30 minutes later, he finally got the opportunity to talk to Miley, but that didn't really brighten his mood.

"God, are your friends always so annoying?"

"Annoying? Why annoying? They're just not as boring as you are"

„Oh sorry, my bad. That might be an explanation why I don't like them"

„Come on, what do you think, you wanna have some real fun? We could go to the bathroom to sniff a line" she suddenly whispered in his ear.

„Are you fucking serious? Are you really offering me to consume some cocaine?" Hans replied completely shocked. This night definitely didn't develop the way he hoped it would.

"Cooooome on, don't be such a pussy. I'm sure we can have some more fun afterwards. We could ask Paris to join us, I saw that you seem to like each other" she said and pressed her hips against Hans, trying to seduce him, but all she managed to do was to freak him out.

„No thanks, but I think I'll pass. I better get going…". He looked at this young girl with some sort of disgust and left the room. All he could hear was Miley shouting at him:

"So go back to your boring friends you loser. We'll find someone who knows how to have fun." The last thing he heard was the mocking laughter of Miley's so-called friends.

Hans went outside, ordered a drink and was looking for a quiet corner where he wouldn't be disturbed. He didn't mind that Paris and her friends were making fun of him, as he usually didn't give a damn about the opinion of people he had no respect for. He was just shocked at how he could completely misjudge Miley. After the photoshoot, he really thought of her as an amazing young woman, who was misperceived by the media and the public. But it seemed like today, he met the real Miley Cyrus and she just wasn't the girl he met a few days ago.

He stayed in his corner for a bit, enjoying his drink and figuring out that this was something like a sign he couldn't ignore. For the first time, he was completely astonished by a girl on their first meeting, just to be brutally disappointed shortly afterwards. He had to admit to himself that it kind of hurt him how she treated him. She mocked him, even tried to humiliate him in front of other people, and he came to the conclusion that the best thing to do would be to just forget about this girl.

Just when he finished his drink and was about to tell his friends that he would be heading back home, Miley came around the corner.

„Hey, here you are. What's the matter, you don't feel like partying anymore?"

„Seriously? After what happened inside? No thanks, I definitely don't feel like partying anymore."

„Oh come on, don't be a jerk. Just come back in and have some fun with us."

"Thanks, but I'll pass. To be honest, I imagined this night out a bit differently. I thought you would actually be more like that girl I met on Wednesday."

„What do you mean? Nice, innocent, boring? I'm sorry to disappoint you, but that's not me. The problem on Wednesday was that I wasn't either drunk nor high, that's why I was such a nit."

"And that's your honest opinion about it? Somehow I don't buy that…"

"Really? Why not?"

"I don't know. Maybe because I just can't imagine that the Miley I met is stupid enough to consider this girls inside being her best friends."

„Sorry to disappoint you again. But we're just having fun and hang out together. Besides, they are also young and famous, so they understand what I have to go through and they support me no matter what. Something I probably can't expect from you."

"You really don't get it, do you? You think they are your friends? All they do is using you to get some attention. You're their only possibility to appear on the first page, and the more scandalous, the better. As soon as they don't need you anymore, they drop you faster than you can say bong."

„Haha, bong, that was funny"

„I'm happy you like it"

„Ok, listen. I really liked you on Wednesday, but I am not the sweet, little Miley that everybody expects me to be. I love to party, smoke weed and get drunk. And if I want to have some fun with guys, I just do it. But you don't seem to be interested."

„You know, and that's exactly where you lie to yourself. Maybe you're not the sweet Miley who never does anything wild or wrong, nobody can be that perfect. But I'm damn sure that you're not that bitch you turn into when you're together with your so-called friends. All you try to do is to get away from this Hannah image, and you don't even notice that you're losing yourself on the way." This little outburst really seemed to somehow reach the young girl. All of a sudden, she got a distant look in her eyes, and she replied in a deeply sad voice:

"It might be true that I exaggerate sometimes. But it's about time to get rid of Hannah and grow up. And it might take some extreme measures to do so, otherwise I will always only be this little cute girl. But I want people to recognize me as a grown up woman and artist. And changing my environment and my circle of friends is part of that. If I don't do this, I will always only be Miley in the eyes of everybody."

"Only Miley…what's so bad about being only Miley?"

„Because Miley is just a little boring girl, not taken seriously by anyone"

„Haha, and who told you that? After all, this Miley is someone who was loved and admired by millions of children. And honestly, what more could you ask for?"

This was something Miley didn't have an answer to, but Hans could see in her face that these crappy thoughts were mainly a production of her new friends and, sadly, when he was thinking about the lunch they had after the photoshoot, probably also a strategy of her management.

„Look, before I leave, there's only one more thing I want to tell you. You said that the Miley from Wednesday was just a boring and innocent version of the person you really are. To me though, the Miley I got to know back there was a young woman who enjoyed life, just an open-minded and loveable girl. And by the way the most beautiful woman I have ever met in my entire life. This boring person impressed me like nobody else ever did before. And my honest opinion is, this was only possible because that was the one and only real Miley. This Miley was a person that touched my heart, and I couldn't stop thinking about her. And I really don't know if I've ever been as happy as in that moment where this person asked me if I would like to see her again today. And yes, it fucking hurts to realize that my image of her seems to have been completely wrong."

After this conversation, he left the young singer and made his way back home. Somehow, this evening didn't turn out like planned at all.


	4. A second chance

A second chance

The following day, Hans was still disappointed, and he couldn't find any motivation to do anything productive during daytime. It wasn't until the early evening hours, when Will called him over to talk about an eventual movie project that he was able to get himself going. This time, they met at Will's house, since his wife and kids were spending some time in Europe. Hans actually loved working with Will. He was extremely talented, professional and, which was very important, they could tell each other openly what they were thinking about the project or script, without having to worry it would affect their friendship. But this time, there wasn't any risk at all anyway, since both of them were amazed by the story of the movie, and so it only took about half an hour before they agreed on Will playing the main character, as long as Hans company would take care of the finances and production part.

"Ok, now we got this over with, I'm gonna get us the good whiskey, pour us a glas, and then you gonna tell me what's wrong with you" Will said in an unexpectedly serious tone.

"Why, what should be wrong?" Hans answered frustrated.

"Come on. No smile, no stupid jokes, no good mood, that's so not you, something has to be up. Like I said, you got about two minutes to run or you chose option B and tell me everything" After these words, Will got up from his chair and went inside to get the Whiskey.

Shortly after, he came back with an 85 year old bottle, filled two glasses and said:

"Since you didn't run and you're still here…tell me"

"It's really that obvious?"

"It is"

"Actually, it's all your fault" Hans told him with a cheeky grin.

"Ok, wow, now I'm really curious"

„You remember last Tuesday? When will you finally start a serious relationship, just wait till the right one crosses your path, bla bla bla…"

"Jesus, this can't end well…" Will replied smiling.

"True. The day after, I was having this PETA-shooting, together with Miley Cyrus. And, don't dare to start laughing now, but yes, only one day after your little speech, I really thought I might have met that person. Beautiful, lovely, smart, same interests…everything seemed to be perfect, to the point that we agreed on meeting on a party yesterday evening. And there, everything that could go wrong went wrong. In short words, she transformed exactly into that person you always hear about in the media. Drunk, stoned, arrogant and stupid. Let's say, the evening ended with me giving her a lecture about life and just left her there."

„See, I don't really know Miley, she's not my generation anymore. But what I can guess from press articles and so on is, that she's an incredibly talented young woman, who's about the crash her life full speed into a concrete wall. She seems to be in a similar phase than I was after the Fresh Prince came to an end. Enjoy your life, be cool, create a new image about yourself and, very important,

gather the wrong people around you. What saved me back in the time and let me get back on my feet was meeting Jada. So, if you really want my advice, you have 2 options now. If you're not sure that she's the one for you, stay away from her as far as possible, otherwise she can drag you into the abyss. But if you're convinced that she's something special, don't give up on her. I know you gonna deny it again, but you're one of the strongest persons I have ever met. You don't let anyone taking advantage of you, and you have no problems banning people from your life you know are bad or have a bad influence on you, which means you might be the only person in her surroundings that can pull her out of her misery. Trust me, I can tell from my own experience, despite being a superstar, being rich and having millions of people that admire her and envy her richness and stardom, she might be the loneliest girl in Hollywood, if not in the entire US. The most important is tough, don't play with her. If you're just looking to have some fun, look for someone else, cause that might destroy her completely."

Later at home, he couldn't get this conversation out of his head. Again and again, he was asking himself the next day if this little girl really could mean so much to him, that he was ready to put all his efforts into dragging her out of this swamp of parties, alcohol, drugs and false friends, without any guarantee that he would succeed. But the more he thought about it, the more obvious it became that he wouldn't be able to forget about Miley. And Will was right, if he wouldn't try at least, he would ask himself for the rest of his life…what if? And he never was a big fan of that.

The only question left was, how to start? He would need a good reason to get in contact with Miley again, and ideally, arrange a meeting, only the two of them, no friends and no distractions. And just as if it was meant to be, just like last time when he didn't know how to text Miley, he got a message from her, and this time a pretty long one, with a, admittedly, surprising content:

"Hey, I just wanted to check if you're doing well? I don't really know how to begin because I'm really not good at apologizing to other people, but I wanted to try at least. I'm really sorry about how things turned out last weekend, especially my behavior towards you. You know, I really had to think a lot about everything you had to tell me, and I'm afraid that you were right with pretty much everything, especially when it comes to surrounding myself with the wrong people. Strangely, your accusations are pretty similar to those my father made, only that I blocked him off completely.

What I'm actually trying to say is, I also really enjoyed our shooting and the time we spent together afterwards, but I can absolutely understand if you're just fed up with me and don't want to see me anymore. All I want you to know is that I'm truly sorry, and in the end, you were right with everything you said. Somewhere along the way, I've lost myself, and I have no idea how to get back on my feet"

Hans expected a lot of things to happen, but definitely not getting that kind of text from Miley. Especially that last sentence contained such an amount of desperation and sadness, that he felt the urge to drive to her home and put his arms around her. But well, he didn't even know where she lived. But his mind was slowly starting to build up a plan that might help him get her life back on track, maybe even a little more than that. So he didn't hesitate for long and texted her back:

"You know how they say. Insight is the first step to improvement . But seriously, I really appreciate your apology, that takes a lot of courage, and to be honest, I didn't really expect this. And even though that evening didn't go as planned, at least for me, if it made you question some of your choices, it wasn't completely in vain. And, about being fed up with you…let's say, it seems like I haven't learned my lesson yet. If you're free tonight, I would love to get another chance to see you. Under the condition that I can do the planning".

"Really? That's a surprise, but I would be really happy if you gave me a second chance. Even if it's just to show you I'm not always the person I was last Saturday. But you might have to tell me where we go. So I can think about my outfit, which depends on the club we gonna go to".

"Haha, don't worry about that. I'd say, shorts, t-shirt, maybe a sweater for later. The place I plan to take you is as different from a night club as it could be. What time would be fine for you? I could pick you up earliest at 6pm".

„Sounds perfect, I don't have any appointments today or tomorrow. So 6pm. And thank you for giving me this second chance".

„No problem. I'll see you later"

This turn of events was a bit unexpected, to say the least, but Hans couldn't deny the fact that he was happy about it. He was just curious if this change of attitude would last or if it was just a short flash in the pan. Since Will was going through a similar phase like Miley, Hans contacted his friend, just to make sure the plan he had in mind was the right one, or if it might end up in a dead end. It only took a few minutes to get a response:

"Don't worry, that might be the best thing you can set up. I would definitely keep her as far away from parties and people like Paris Hilton as possible. And you're sure that you really want to give this a try? Because, if you raise her hopes only to disappear after that, she's gonna be completely devastated".

"That's definitely not my plan. I don't know, I can't really explain it, but like I told you yesterday, I just can't get this girl out of my head"

"That's nice to hear. Haha, it feels so satisfying to be rigt, again. Sorry, had to get that one out. But if it really works out, don't forget to come over for dinner. You know how long Jada is trying now to hook you up, she would never forgive you if you finally have a girlfriend and wouldn't introduce them to each other"

"Yeah yeah, what would I do without my date doctor? Maybe I'll need your services again one day, so stay tuned"

"Dude, you know, I'm taking my roles very serious. Haha, anyway, good luck, and no matter how it turns out, keep me updated"

"I sure will, thanks Mr Smith"

"Nice one…"

After Hans was reassured that he was doing the right thing, he started to plan the rest of the day. He had another 4 hours left before he was supposed to pick up Miley. So he took his car and went to his favorite food market to buy some ingredients for tonight. He also had to pick up Daisy, who was something like his adopted dog. Since he was traveling and/or out of the country most of the time, he never wanted to have his own dog, since he couldn't bear to leave him alone that often. So he decided to support an organization called Hope for Paws, which tried to save as many stray dogs from the streets in and around Los Angeles as possible. Daisy was a 6 year old Collie who had a really tough life till she got rescued. Mistreated by her owner, left in the streets, having to survive on her own. When the organization got aware of her, she had to lead this cruel life for about 2 years, and she was in a very bad shape. Since Hans had a lot of free time, and was himself in a bit of a depressed

state as he was trying to recover from the surgery of his career ending knee injury, he decided to take her in as a foster dog. It turned out that each of them was exactly what the other one needed, and they gave support, hope and love to one another. She stayed with Hans for about 5 months, before he found a friend of his who was looking for a new dog to take in. And even if Daisy was living the best life possible now, she never forget the first human who ever showed her what it meant to be a dog, and what it meant to be loved as a dog and what kind of life these amazing animals deserved. And so Hans never stopped to pick her up regularly and spoil her for a day.

And just like always, even after he was in Europe for almost 6 month, the dog seemed to know exactly when he would show up, and so she was waiting at the door, excited to see her old friend again. Hans got a very enthusiastic welcome, including many face licks, and it took him about 5 minutes before he managed to get Daisy in the car.

After he arrived back home, he still had about 2 hours to kill, so he decided to gather a couple more information about Miley. What he was able to find this time made him understand to a certain extent why she crashed her life like she did. On-off relationship with Liam Hemsworth, seemingly they were on the point of getting engaged when it turned out that he cheated on her, just on her birthday, with 2 strippers in Las Vegas. After that she broke down during a live show, taken under the wing of Paris Hilton, one scandal after the other, attacked by every reporter in Hollywood, and left in the rain by every famous person that once claimed to be her friend. The names showing up here were especially Taylor Swift, Kylie Jenner, Justin Bieber or Katy Perry. Hans could slowly put together an image of the whole situation, and he felt really bad for Miley. Sure, a lot of her problems were her own doing, but she was still a young girl that got abandoned by a lot of people she put her trust in.

"Who knows", he was thinking to himself, "maybe today will also be for Miley the first step of her new life".

He didn't know why, but contrary to their first date (if you can even call it a date), Hans had a very good feeling and he was convinced that tonight would turn out differently. By now, he was sure that he was ready to do everything what was needed to help Miley back on her feet, and show her he would be there for her and that she could rely on him. If she should decide to let him become a part of her life of course.

Before taking a shower, he texted Miley:

"Hey, I completely forgot that I invited Daisy already today, I hope you don't mind if she's joining us?"

As he had finished his shower, he already got a somewhat offended reply:

"What do you mean? I thought it would be just the two of us? Look, if you're just looking for payback or you don't really want to see me, then we better just cancel the whole thing".

It looked like Hans didn't really think this true and immediately felt guilty. So he quickly took a selfie with Daisy and sent it with the following text to the young singer:

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know I wasn't allowed to bring my little girl. But if you prefer, I will leave her at home. All alone, in this huge house, no friends, nothing to do…"

„Very funny, you're such a jerk. Don't you dare to leave her at home. God, she's so sweet. And now I'm even more curious about what we gonna do"

"I thought so. I just have to get dressed and I'm on my way. If you could just send me your address. You gonna figure out the rest later"

After everything was set up, Hans got dressed and he chose a casual style with shorts and t-shirt. He packed everything they needed, including Daisy, into his car and left. Since he took Daisy with him and he didn't really want to stand out from the people driving regular cars, he used his Hyundai Santa Fe. He owned this car mainly because of his parents, who used it every time they visited him. They somehow couldn't get used to his (a bit) fancier cars.

The Cyrus family lived about 15 minutes away from his place. This was one of the advantages of living in the Hollywood Hills, everything was pretty close together and everyone who lived here was either famous or extremely rich…a lot of times both, so that this whole district was under permanent surveillance, which meant no paparazzi and no stalkers. The people that lived here had to invest a certain amount into a private security firm, but it allowed them a maximum of privacy.

A little bit later, he drove through the gate, up to the Cyrus mansion. Hans estimated its value a bit lower than the one of his home, probably somewhere in the range of 8 to 10 million US dollar. According to Google, Miley's net worth was around 130 million, her father, as a former country music star had another 20-30 million. But it was pretty obvious who was the biggest star in the family by now.

Miley was waiting at the entrance door, it seemed like she was the only one home, or at least nobody was curious enough to come and take a look at Hans. In his eyes, the young pop star looked simply gorgeous. To his surprise, she kept to his advice and was wearing jeans shorts, a white t-shirt and she even had a sweater with her. Hans was asking himself a bit amused how long this obedience would last.

He got out of the car and gave Miley a hug, which made him realize that she smelled very good again, like a mix of a rather sweet perfume and freshly washed hair.

"Hey, I'm glad you could make it tonight. How are you?"

"Well, after someone told me a few unattractive things about myself…better. But come on now, let the doggy out"

With a big grin, Hans opened the door and let Daisy get out, who stormed over to Miley to get a good sniff of her, and then laid down on her back, ready to receive some belly rubs.

"Now that's surprising…usually she's very cautious when it comes to strangers"

"Really? Doesn't look like it though."

"Trust me. It took me about 5 days before she trusted me enough to not hide in a corner as soon as we were in the same room. But get in the car, I'll tell you her story along the way"

So they took off, and like he promised, Hans was telling Miley the story why and how he came to fostering Daisy. Of course this sad story resulted in a lot of petting and sweet talks for the dog, and Hans thought amusingly:" Well, looks like the dog might enjoy tonight even more than I do"

Since the traffic in LA was pretty low for once, they only needed about 30 minutes to reach their destination, Hans beach house in Malibu. He bought it about 18 months ago, because he always was

dreaming about owning his own house at the beach, and over time, it became some kind of a routine to come down here and spend 1 or 2 nights in this house, listen to the sound of the waves and just clear his mind. It was a perfect place to relax, and he hoped that this environment would have the effect on Miley.

"Here we are" he said as he parked the car in front of the garage.

"Believe it or not, but I have never been down here at the beach"

"Are you serious? You live in LA all these years, and you've never been at the famous Malibu beach?"

"Malibu, Venice, Santa Monica…none of them. I can't really walk around freely in LA, that's why I try to avoid being in public places as much as possible. And what place is more public than a public beach?"

"Yeah, you've got a point. But come in, we're not going to the beach right away"

Hans led Miley into his beach house. Having 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, it was considerably smaller than his mansion in the Hollywood Hills, but because of the exclusive location, it was worth about 7 million dollars.

"So, what did you plan? You still haven't told me what you're up to"

"You gonna find out very soon. Can you take care of Daisy for a couple of minutes, I just have to get a few things from the car"

When he came back in, he was loaded with 3 bags full of fresh ingredients.

"Hey, what's all this stuff?"

"Well, everything we need for cooking of course" Hans was grinning.

"Cooking? Are you serious? We gonna cook for ourselves?"

"Haha, of course. Why? Are you afraid I'm a better cook than you?"

"To be honest, I'm an awful cook…I actually never cook for myself…", It seemed like Miley was a little bit embarrassed.

"You're joking, right? You never cook for yourself?"

"Not really, no. When I started with Hannah Montana, I was still very young, and after that, we always had someone looking after us or at home we had a housekeeper. I mean, I know how to put a deep frozen pizza into the microwave, but that's about it".

"Very well…come over here, this is gonna be interesting…"

And indeed, the whole cooking process turned out to be quite fun, partly due to Miley's complete inability of cooking, but also because, just like during the PETA shooting, the two of them had a perfect chemistry and got along just perfect.

Hans himself wasn't a true master chef himself, put at least he knew the basics, which was hard to avoid if you're living by yourself half of your life. Contrary to a lot of other Nba stars, he has never been a fan of hiring privat employees, cooks, PA's or social media advisors. What's more, he had an

Italian aunt who, in his eyes, cooked the best pasta in the world, and more importantly, had taught him how to prepare a real Italian pasta sauce. Which was more or less the only dish he really mastered. Kind of…

Miley seemed to be surprisingly motivated, cutting vegetables, made fresh pasta, spicing everything and of course, at one point started pouring some flour over Hans. It took them about 40 minutes to prepare everything, and the result looked definitely eatable.

They sat down at the table, of course Daisy had her very own bowl of spaghetti, and they enjoyed their meal. And due to the fact that Americans always claimed to be experts when it comes to Italian food, but in reality had no clue, Miley was just overwhelmed from this old family recipe.

„If I had known that cooking could be so much fun, I would have done it already a long time ago" she smiled after finishing her plate.

"To be honest, I have never done it like this before. But I would say, I clean the dishes, and afterwards, since you've never been here before, we gonna take a little walk along the beach. Daisy seems to be a bit restless already"

"I can help you with the dishes"

"No need to, you're my guest. So just sit down with Daisy for another 5 minutes, and we'll be good to go"

Approximately 10 minutes later, they left the house through the backdoor and went down to the sea. They lingered over the beach and talked just about anything that came to their minds, while Daisy was running around like crazy and playing catch with the waves. On the way back to the house, Hans suddenly said:

"Come, I wanna show you a special place before we go back in"

"Now you make me curious"

He took her to a small hidden path which lead away from the house to a little hill, covered in grass and flowers. The path ended at an old looking bench which offered an amazing view over the beach and the sea and was the perfect place to observe the sunset.

"God, this is wonderful. And somehow perfectly timed", Miley said and looked at Hans with smiling eyes.

"What a lucky coincidence" Hans replied. „But seriously, I love this place. I come here regularly, to clear my head, think about life and especially if there's an important decision I have to make. Somehow, this place calms me down and helps me find myself again"

"And how many girls did you show this place already?" Miley asked mockingly.

"You want to know the truth? You're the first person ever that I bring to this place. It's somehow like my own private escape, and I don't think that anybody besides me has been here for the past 25 years"

"You're really serious about this, right? But why did you bring me here?" the singer asked emotionally.

"I have no idea. Maybe I think that a place like this is exactly what you need right now. Maybe, because last Wednesday, you completely turned my life upside down. Maybe you're the first person ever where I know that you understand what this place means to me. Maybe a bit of everything I just said…"

They sat down on the bench, Daisy next to them in the grass, and for the first time, Miley put her head against Hans shoulder and took his hand.

"No matter what the reason is…this place is just beautiful"

"And in all honesty now Miley, how are you? I have to admit that I did some researching, and the last years don't seem to have been easy for you"

"Researching? Sounds interesting…" said Miley with a grin, but suddenly switched to a very serious tone:

"Are you aware that you're the first person to ask me this question in a very long time? And the answer is, I don't know. All I know is that I'm not doing good, and that for several years now, I'm constantly feeling miserable. I really meant what I texted you this morning. Since I'm trying to get rid of my Hannah Montana image I'm doing things, saying things in which I don't recognize myself. Everybody's trying to tell me what to do, but nobody is ready to really help me. This one sentence you threw at me, that I completely lost myself, made me think a lot about the past. It made me realize a lot of things, and most of them are pretty ugly. I think I have to make a lot of changes in my life, and a big part of these changes have to be my so-called friends"

„Well, if you need any help with that, you know where you can find me" Hans winked at her.

"Why are you so nice to me? I really did my best to push you away from me"

"I don't know. Probably mainly because of the photo shoot. I never met someone before that impressed me that much in such a short amount of time. And like I said, I couldn't get you out of my head, and I have to admit that after last Saturday, I was a bit desperate. And still I wasn't able to believe that this girl I met a few days earlier wouldn't exist. Haha, I even asked the date doctor for advice"

"The date doctor? I thought something like that only exists in movies?"

"Well, yes…I was actually hinting at the movie. I was asking for advice from the main actor"

"Wait a second. You talked to Will Smith about me? Will Smith? Oh my God, I don't believe this…Will Smith…" That somehow seemed to shock her.

„He's my neighbor and my best friend in the US, who else should I talk to about something like that? But let's shut up for a few minutes and just enjoy the sunset"

So for the next minutes, they were sitting on the bench and watched, Miley cuddled to Hans, the sun sinking down in the ocean. After that they went back to the house and installed themselves comfortably on the big terrace, Miley with a glass of red wine, Hans with some Whiskey, and they just kept talking:

"So, any idea yet how you gonna get back on your feet?"

"Honestly, no. It surely won't be easy, but if I keep my actual lifestyle up, I'm afraid that I'm gonna end up like Amandy Bynes or Lindsay Lohan. And that scares the shit out of me"

"Hm…but you know the difference between them and you? They didn't have me" said Hans with a smile in his face.

Thankful, and suspiciously watery eyes, Miley shortly looked at him, just to turn her face away and look down to the ocean. This was such a beautiful and peaceful place to be, and so they just enjoyed the view and the company for another hour and talked a lot. It was around midnight when Hans suddenly said:

"I think it's about time I drive you home…you look like you're about to fall asleep any second"

„Haha, my old father will be very surprised to see me coming home that early" Miley said. "But you're right, I'm really exhausted."

"Alright then. We'll drop off Daisy, and after that it's your turn"

"Good to know…I'm coming right after the dog"

"Or maybe I just want to enjoy your company a little longer" Hans laughed.

After they dropped off Daisy at her owner, they drove back to Miley's place. Hans walked Miley to the door where he tried to collect all his courage and looked her into the eyes:

"Look Miley, before I go now, I really enjoyed tonight with you. And I really appreciate you opened up and were so honest with me. I really meant every word I've said, you can count on me and I will support you as much as I can. I mean, only if you're willing to let me be a part of your life".

"Only if I want? This was the best night out I had since I can remember, I didn't feel like this in years. I can't explain why, but in your company, I feel safe and comfortable, and most importantly, I don't feel the urge to pretend anything, I can just be myself. I have no idea why you even care about me, but I would be extremely happy if you were a big part of my life"

„Big part hu? Guess I'm just gonna risk it now…"

"Risk it? Risk what?" Miley asked surprised.

She didn't have to wait long for an answer, as Hans already leaned in to her and cautiously kissed her. Miley recovered pretty fast from her first surprise and returned the kiss. And this time was completely different than the drunken, smelly kiss from the nightclub. Hans felt like he was struck from lightning, he got dizzy and his legs started to shake. The kiss lasted for about 5 seconds, after which Hans muttered:

"Oh boy…that was…unbelievable"

"Hey, are you ok?" Miley asked worried.

"Haha, actually, even fantastic" he smiled back at her.

"So, what does this mean? Like, what's gonna happen now? Do you want to see me again? I really hope so…God, I suddenly feel like a shy teenager again"

"A shy teenager? You? Don't let your manager hear that" Hans teased her. "But seriously, let's start this slowly without any pressure and we'll see what will happen. But I definitely want to see you again. And Daisy wouldn't mind that too I suppose. If it's fine with you, I'll text you tomorrow?"

"Promise?"

"Malibu promise" said Hans while he kissed her again softly and made his way hom


	5. Billy Ray Cyrus

Billy Ray Cyrus

As Miley walked back into the house, she could see that there was still light in the tv room, which meant that her father was back from Nashville. As a former huge country star, he still spent a lot of time in this city which was known as the birthplace of country music, but also because his sister and his ex-wife were living there. She decided, contrary to her usual habits, to go in and talk to him before going to bed.

She found him half asleep and exhausted in his favorite armchair, but she knew that he wouldn't go to his room before he wasn't sure that she made it back home safely. It had become some sort of sad routine to him to stay up all night, worried and not knowing what his daughter was doing and which party she attended, or at what time and in what state she would come back home. More than once, he had to drag her up the stairs and lay her into her bed because she was too drunk to move, asking himself when things started to go so terribly wrong.

Billy Ray Cyrus became famous in the early 90's when he managed to publish a couple of country music hits, with his biggest success being Achy Breaky Heart. A couple of years after Miley was born and he realized how talented she was, he was pushing her into the showbusiness. He was forcing her career, and she became more successful than he could ever imagine. At the age of 18, Miley had already accomplished way more than Billy Ray did in his entire career. A lot of people kept criticizing him for this, but to his defense you have to say that he always only wanted the best for his little girl. Meanwhile, he started to doubt the choices he made for his daughter were the right ones, fearing that he ruined her childhood and maybe her whole life, and that it might have been better to just let her have a normal life. Since she was rebelling against her Hannah Montana image, she drove him crazy, and what hurt him the most was to see how his little girl was suffering day and night, and he had no idea how he could help her.

"Hey Dad, I'm home. You can give your old back a break and go to bed"

Billy Ray opened his eyes and looked surprised at his daughter:

"Oh, hey. I didn't expect you to be back this early. And definitely not dressed like that…where have you been?" he was asking. Billy Ray was a bit confused that his daughter came home shortly after midnight, completely sober and dressed like a normal teenage girl.

"I'm coming from a date" Miley said with a smile.

"And it's already over?"

"It is. We were cooking, took a walk on the beach, observed the sunset, had a glass of wine and did a lot of talking"

"You were cooking? And observing the sunset? Excuse me, but who are you, and what have you done with my daughter?"

Even though Billy Ray said this as a joke, it showed Miley how much she made her father suffer over the last years. She went to him, gave him a hug and a kiss and said:

"I'm really exhausted, I'm going to sleep. But I think that today, for the first time in a long while, I was able to be simply Miley, the little girl that you raised"

Deep in thoughts, Billy Ray watched his daughter go up the stairs. He had no clue what date she came from or who she even met with. But, for the first time in years, he felt a small glimpse of hope finding its way into his heart.


	6. Hollywood's new couple

Hollywood's new couple

When Hans was finally back home, he was still amazed. The evening went perfect, and he had to admit that he never had a date before during which he felt so much at ease and comfortable. But what really wiped him off his feet was that kiss. It was just electrifying and he felt like a young teenager who got kissed by a girl for the first time, and to him, it was the final proof that he didn't want to live without this crazy girl anymore.

The weird thing about the situation was that, despite always being a sweet teenager, for a lot of people Miley wasn't considered as being very attractive anymore. Raddled, unpleasant, megalomaniac, arrogant…these were just some of the words used to describe her. What's more was the fact that she wasn't really his type. Usually, he required at least a certain height and blonde or light brown hair. Miley was about 5 ft 5, maybe 5 ft 6, dark brown hair, her nose was pretty small and her eyes a bit closer together than they should have been…and yet, she was the most beautiful girl that Hans had ever met.

Just as he was about to go to sleep, he received a text message from Miley:

"Hey, thanks again for this amazing evening. And don't forget what you've promised me. Good night "

"Haha, don't worry, I'll hit you up tomorrow. And I also enjoyed every second of tonight. Sweet dreams"

The next day, Hans woke up pretty early. The Californian weather usually inspired him to get out of bed around 9am latest, so he made himself breakfast, went through his morning workout routine and texted Will, like he promised before the date.

"Hey, I don't want to brag, but I would say yesterday evening was a huge success"

"You and me, lunch at Soprano's. I'm still in the CBS studios for another 30 minutes approximately, after that I'm done for the day. I need to know every single detail about yesterday's date, or Jada's going to murder me"

"Haha, got it, see you in an hour"

Hans was really happy that he was able to buy the house just next to the Smith mansion. Real friendships were a rare gift in Hollywood, and his relationship with Will was a big exception. He had to smile when he thought back to the day when they first met. Of course, his real estate agent told him beforehand about his potential neighbors, but Hans didn't really care about that. Since he was raised the right way by his parents, he didn't care if his new neighbors were some famous Hollywood people or a regular waiter. Immediately after he moved in, he put a welcome basket with all sorts of useless stuff (like pasta, candies, wine etc…) together and went over to their house. Will and Jada were completely stunned and their first thought was that it must have been some sort of hidden camera prank. In a neighborhood where new people moved in and out like every week, this sort of behavior just wasn't something they were used to. Anyway, after this first meeting, Will and Hans quickly became pals and it didn't take long before they had built a deep friendship, and by now, they were kind of known as Hollywood's most popular friends.

During their lunch, Will wanted to know every single detail about that date, and he was truly happy for Hans. He had always been worried that his friend planned on staying single for too long and would miss the right time to settle down. He knew from his own experience how fast you could get used to this single life, consisting of non-stop parties and young women…and how deep you could fall.

So after Will had gathered enough information to report to his wife, Hans drove back home and finally texted Miley:

"Hey, how are you, slept well? I hope you didn't have a sudden change of mind and would still like to see me again?"

"Hi, I'm really happy you texted me. There's no way I'm gonna change my mind, I would be more than happy to go on a second date with you"

"Well, when would you be free? I'm pretty flexible right now, I have no upcoming projects, at least not for the moment, but I suppose your schedule is pretty busy?"

"Not really, no. I have a few things where we are still negotiating, but I have no gigs for the moment. So, the next days, I'll be available, at least in the evening"

"Sounds great. How about tonight then?"

"Did you already make some plans? I'm ready for anything…except going to parties maybe… "

"Oh wow, do I really got the right number? But let's see…going to the movies is out of question, we don't want you to cause a panic. How about movie night at my place? Pizza, popcorn, bad movie…sounds perfect to me?"

"Let's say 7pm?"

"Perfect"

"Ok, see you later, I'm really looking forward to see you. Oh, and this time you have to give me your address"

Hans texted her back and also sent his address. So he really would have a second date with Miley Cyrus. He felt, which was unusual for him, excited and nervous…and was looking forward to this like a teenager to his first date with a girl. He already ordered the pizzas and drove to the supermarket to get a few snacks and drinks. Back home, he took a shower and waited for his date to arrive.

A few miles away, Miley was fighting with the same symptoms. Yesterday evening was the for the first time since she was about 16 years old that she felt truly happy. She still had no idea how she was supposed to regain control over her life, but she knew that having met Hans could change everything. And she was convinced that it would be a change for the better. He managed to make her question a lot of things, the reasons why she wanted to change her image, but mostly how she wanted to live her life and what kind of person she wanted to be. She still didn't really know the answers, but the one thing she knew for sure was, that she wasn't the person that her management and her false friends pushed her to be. She also thought a lot about her girl gang and she realized that the other members only took advantage of her. Everytime Miley tried to ask for help, she was immediately shut down, the only thing that mattered was finding the next party and get as much attention from the media as possible. She never felt at ease around them, and the last time that she felt that someone loved her just because she was Miley was all the way back when she was a little girl and spent time with her Godmother, Dolly Parton. And yet, she felt extremely nervous, afraid to destroy everything again, like she did so many times over the last years, especially when it came to her father who tried again and again, without success, to pull her out of this swamp.

As she was about to leave, she went to Billy Ray who was sitting in the kitchen.

"Hey Dad, I'm out. I don't know what time I'll be back, but please don't stay up for me, you really don't have to worry."

"No club outfit? Again? Where are you going?"

„Second date. Movie night, including pizza and popcorn"

"Miley, who is this guy? And how serious are you about this? Since yesterday, you seem completely changed. Don't get me wrong, I love it, it's just a bit suspicious to me"

"You know, I'd rather wait till tomorrow to talk about it. And I'm taking it very serious, because I have a feeling that this might be the exact person I need in my life"

"Alright sweetheart, we'll talk tomorrow. Have fun"

"Thanks Dad"

Miley knew that she had to make up for a lot of bad things she did in the past, especially when it came to her father. But she wasn't ready for this conversation yet, first she had to know where this romance with Hans was leading to. She really hoped that it would turn into something serious and stable, she was just tired and desperately needed someone she could lean and rely on.

Point 7pm, she arrived at Hans place and caught him completely off guard. He thought he actually had at least another 20 minutes before Miley would show up.

Again, she looked amazing. She was wearing short jeans, with a white top and a black blouse. After they greeted each other, Hans showed Miley the house, and most of all, she was impressed by the incredible view you had over the city of LA. This asset was actually one of the main criterias why Hans decided to buy this mansion. There were other, bigger and more expensive houses available, but this was the one where he felt at home from the moment he stepped in.

They sat down on a bench in a corner next to the pool, where you had an amazing view over the LA skyline.

"How are you? I hope you had a nice day till now?"

"I'm definitely feeling better than the previous months. I have no idea when was the last time that I slept so well. And you?"

"Besides being under a lot of pressure tonight, I'm great" said Hans with a grin.

"Haha, why are you under pressure?"

"Well, I was having lunch with Will, and when I'll be calling him tomorrow to report about my date tonight, he doesn't expect anything less than telling me when I'll be over for dinner or a barbecue or something like that…together with my new girlfriend" Oh wow, Hans felt his face blushing…something that didn't happen anymore since high school.

"Why are they so obsessed with hooking you up anyway?"

"Great question. And, I have no idea…"

"And who is this mysterious girlfriend, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Oh, well…actually, you know…well…" stuttered Hans

"Yes?"

"Phew, I was actually hoping that she's sitting here right next to me. But I can totally understand if you don't want to rush anything, or if you're not interested at all, I mean…"

"Hans?"

"Yes?" Jesus, this didn't go as planned at all.

"Just kiss me"

"Oh…with pleasure"

So he finally shut up and kissed Miley. Afterwards, they stayed on the bench for a couple more minutes, before going back to the house. The pizzas were supposed to arrive any minute.

When they sat down at the kitchen table and focused on their food, Miley suddenly wanted to talk about something serious:

"Look, I'm very happy how everything turned out, and if anybody had told me this before the PETA shooting, I wouldn't have believed a single word. But are you really aware what you would be getting yourself into? I mean, every day I realize more how stupid I was over the last years, how many people I've hurt and disappointed. And that the whole world will probably turn against me. And if there's one thing I don't want to happen, it's that you gonna wake up in a few days or weeks and regret your decision. Because, I already have this feeling now, that you are that person I can lean on and could make me happy again. And if it should get serious between us, just for you to realize that you don't want to be with me, I have no idea how to deal with that"

Hans was expecting a lot of things, but not such an emotional confession. He only met her a couple of times, but he already figured out that Miley's personality was way deeper and more complex than he initially thought. She definitely had an awful reputation in public, but the more time he spent with her, the more he realized how special she was, but also that she must have been disappointed and hurt by other people more than once. So he got up, walked over to her and put his arms around her:

"You know, I actually still can't believe that you're, for whatever reason, interested in me, I mean, you're Miley Cyrus. But since I have this stupid habit of building my own opinion instead of listening to social media or press articles, I came to the conclusion that you are the most wonderful and beautiful young woman I have ever met in my life. And if it really comes to the point that the whole world turns against you…that's fine, I have a thick skin, if I have to place myself between you and the world to keep it away from you, so be it"

Miley wasn't able to reply anything to this. She had her eyes closed, with a few tears running down her cheeks. After all this time of being on the edge of depressions, being cheated on, being attacked by media, having suffered from drug and alcohol abuse, losing herself and trusting the wrong people, after being sure she would never make her way back into a stable life, it really happened. She found a person that made her feel safe and secure, someone she felt in a way like she never did before, and for the first time since she was 16 years old, she didn't cry tears of despair but tears of happiness.

Later, when they were lying on the couch (as a good representative of the female gender, Miley fell asleep about 30 minutes into the movie), Hans was looking at her face, surprised about how things had turned out. He memorized every single detail of this beautiful face, the tiny scar on her front, the little beauty spot below her right eye, the dimples he could see because she was even smiling in her sleep now…he could have watched her for hours. He realized that this relationship wouldn't be easy, but he was sure of one thing. No matter what it would take, he would do everything in his powers that this wonderful girl he got to know over the last 2 days wouldn't disappear again. And if the whole world would turn against Miley, they first had to go through him.


	7. The morning after

The next day

Around 9.30 am, Billy Ray was sitting in the kitchen, reading the newspaper when he was surprised by an unusual sight for this early time of the day. Miley walked in, so he put the LA Times aside and said:

"Now look at that. So, how did it go? If I judge by the look on your face, it must have been quite successful"

"To be honest, it went way better than I could hope for" Miley replied with a smile.

"What does that mean?"

„What exactly?"

„Well, did you come to a conclusion if this should turn into something more serious?"

"I'm pretty sure it already did. At least it feels serious"

"So will you tell me now who this mysterious guy is?"

"Since when are you so curious? But his name is Jerome Hansen, I don't know if you already heard about him…"

"Oh, just the usual. Former NBA player, Olympic Gold Medalist, powerful movie producer, co-founder of Google…where did you meet someone like that?"

„We did the PETA shooting together last week. And, although I really did my best to scare him off last weekend, he gave me a second chance. We don't want to rush anything now, but for the first time since the break-up with Liam, I feel ready to let another man into my life again and have a serious relationship"

"Alright, if he hasn't anything planned yet, you can invite him for dinner tonight"

"Oh come on Dad, please don't start like this now, it's still too early for that"

"No Miley, not this time. I want to meet him, and that's why you will tell him to show up. I insist"

Miley looked at her father and was surprised. It was very rare that he played the Dad card, on the other hand it showed her how important this was to him.

"Ok, I'm gonna ask him"

So she sent Hans a text to which he replied he would happily accept the invitation. Even if it made him nervous to think about meeting Miley's father. He kept telling himself that he survived such a ruthless environment like the NBA, was one of the most influential people in Hollywood and a multi-billionaire and yet…this was Billy Ray Cyrus, a country music idol, more than 25 million sold albums, good friend of the legend within, Dolly Parton (who was Miley's godmother)…and he was tall and looked like a real cowboy…but ok, he knew he had to do this sooner or later anyway.

He spent the rest of the day at home, lying at the pool and enjoyed the California sun. He only left his house once to drive to a close by liquor store and bought a good bottle of Whiskey for Miley's dad…you always want to make a good first impression.

He arrived at the Miley's house exactly at 7 pm. The gate was opened and he drove up to the front entrance where his girlfriend was already waiting at the door. She came down the stairs, hugged him and gave him a big kiss.

"Hm, I could get used to being welcomed like that"

"I would even say you have no choice but to get used to this" Miley whispered.

"Haha, sounds good to me. But let's go inside, we don't wanna keep the old man waiting"

So they went inside, and to his surprise, the first person he met was Miley's younger sister Noah, who usually lived with her mother in Nashville, but came to visit for a couple of days. Afterwards, they went into the kitchen, where Hans finally met Billy Ray Cyrus himself. He introduced himself and presented his bottle of whiskey as a gift to the head of the Cyrus family.

„If you think this can help you to make a good first impression kid, I have to tell you…that plan definitely worked" Billy Ray laughed, and at the same time made sure that Hans could calm down and feel welcome. He was still a bit nervous, but they were having a relaxed and open conversation right from the start, during which he could gather a lot of information about Billy Ray's music career, but on the other hand, the musician was also very eager to learn about Hans basketball achievements. Miley was, which was very untypical, silently listening to the conversation for most of the time, and could see that the two men seemed to get along great.

Like every good American, Billy Ray had prepared a barbecue consisting of delicious spare ribs, baked potatoes, salad, corn and bread, with an amazing home-made barbecue sauce, prepared after an old family recipe. Hans was just amazed and said:

"It's somehow sad that you weren't able to pass your cooking talents on to your daughter."

„Haha, right. You still have to tell me how you managed to get Miley into the kitchen…to cook…" he replied.

The atmosphere stayed relaxed and friendly throughout the dinner, but when the plates were empty and put aside, Billy Ray suddenly said:

"You'll have to excuse us for a few minutes Miley, but I'm gonna take your boyfriend outside for a little private talk"

"Come on dad, really?"

Hans, who had expected this anyway, quickly said:

"Hey, don't worry. He's your father, of course he wants to know what I'm up to"

Still worried, Miley turned to her father:

"Alright, but be nice, ok? I'll be in the living room"

Hans was curious as he followed the musician outside where they sat down next to the swimming pool. It didn't take long before Miley's father started the conversation:

"Alright, usually I don't interfere with Miley's life, but we've reached a point where I think it is absolutely necessary. My first question is very simple. How important is Miley to you?"

As this was a question that Hans expected to hear tonight, he already knew more or less what to say:

"Alright, I think we can have a straightforward conversation here, and I'm gonna be as honest as I can. Actually Billy, Miley isn't even my type. Until now, I was always into tall, light haired and sporty women. And yet, your daughter is the most beautiful and amazing girl I have ever met…and I'm telling you this after dating 2 Victoria Secret models. Truth be told, I have no idea how, but your daughter amazed and impressed me so much, that a simple photo shoot was enough that I couldn't get her out of my head anymore. I would say, she already means a lot to me. I actually planned to enjoy my single life for a couple more years, and all it took was a couple of hours with Miley to forget about that plan"

"I just want to make sure. I don't know how much she has told you or how much you figured out by yourself through social media and press articles, but in the last years, we've seen it all. Drugs and alcohol, wild parties, affairs, public breakdowns, the breakup with Liam, depressions, scandals and so on, and so on. Trust me, this book is thicker than the bible. And just when I thought I was beginning to completely lose her and I have to somehow drag her away from this whole entertainment business, one evening she comes back home from a date and seems completely changed. In a way, that even I regained some hope that everything could still turn out to be just fine. I just want to make clear that you somehow managed to get through to her, something that I wasn't capable of doing for the past 6-7 years, and I can already tell how much she relies on you after this short amount of time. That's why I want to make sure you really care about Miley and you're not just looking to have some fun, or want to use her to get some publicity…because that would literally kill her"

"I really appreciate your open words. And don't worry, I'm definitely not someone who seeks public attention. And yes, some things she told me, some things I managed to find out by myself. But usually, I prefer to build my own opinion instead of giving a crap about what you can find on the internet, and to me, Miley needs help. And she deserves every little bit of support she can get, because she's unique and wonderful. You just have to get through this rough surface that she put on over the last years"

"I'm really happy to hear this. There's only one thing left that worries me a bit. How will you react when it gets tough? She made a lot of enemies over the past years and now she has caught, only God knows how, one of the most wanted bachelors in the world. You're not only gonna be with a girl that's emotionally unstable and stuck in a world that mainly consists of parties, drugs and alcohol, but there will also be hostilities, from the media, from the music industry, fans, public…I'm in this business way too long to have any illusions left. The attacks will come, and you have to be aware that she can't deal with them on her own."

"I know. And again, I have this stupid habit of taking my own decisions, and I won't let my relationship be influenced by anything that's said in the media, from so-called stars or fans. And, about the hostilities, I know that they will come, probably sooner than later. But hey, you're Billy Ray Cyrus. If they want to reach her, they have to get through the both of us. And that's pretty much impossible"

"You're really serious about this, aren't you?"

"Yes sir"

After this exchange, Billy Ray got up from the table, walked to the kitchen door and shouted:

"Miley, can you come? And bring a bottle of whiskey. The good one."

It seemed like Miley was eagerly waiting for them to finish and almost ran out with a bottle of whiskey and two glasses. Billy Ray took the bottle, poured two glasses and gave one to Hans:

"Welcome to the family my boy"

"Thanks, that really means a lot to me"

The two had a toast, drank their whiskey and Miley could already tell that there was a special friendship being created between her father and her boyfriend.


	8. An unexpected visit

An unexpected visit

The next 4 days, they spent mostly together in Hans house, before they would have to separate for some time, since Miley had planned to travel to Nashville where she was supposed to have a couple of performances together with Dolly Parton. She was already pretty excited, it would be the first time in a long while that she would perform together with her godmother and play some country music. Additionally to this, she would also shoot some videos that included some old hits like Jolene.

They didn't made their relationship public yet, and Hans agreed with Billy Ray that they should still wait a little bit. Everything still felt new, and every single day, Hans discovered something new about his girlfriend and fell in love a little more. Tonight was their last evening together before they would be apart for 5 days, and Hans finally kept his promise and told Will that they would come over to his house for dinner. It would also be the first time that Miley would stay for the night, which, considered her wild years, took surprisingly long. But also Miley didn't want to rush anything, and she realized that Hans had raised some feelings inside her, that she thought she would never be able to feel again. She felt like living in a cloud, and she knew exactly that, revealing this relationship to the public, would cause an earthquake. Whether this would be good or bad, she had no idea, all she knew was that she wanted to enjoy this quiet time with her boyfriend for a little more.

She arrived at 6 pm at the house and dropped off a few personal thinks before they were heading over to the Smith family. The young girl seemed to be somewhat nervous, so Hans asked her:

"Is something wrong? You're so…restless…"

"Well, it's the first time that I'm meeting one of your friends, and this friend is nobody less than Will Smith"

"Haha, come on, you're used to meet famous musicians or actors all the time anyway, that's not new to you"

"Not really. But this is Will Smith, that's Hollywood's absolute elite. I'm miles away from his class, and people like him usually don't spend time with underclass artists like me."

"Don't worry, Will's a great guy, and besides, he wants to get to know you, not the other way around. Everything's gonna be fine. You'll see."

A little later, they arrived at the door which was opened by Will himself.

"There you are, it's about time, Jada's already starting to lose patience"

He gave Miley a warm hug and said to her:

"So you're the girl that finally managed to put this guy on a leash. You really have to tell me how you managed to do that" And with this simple but warm welcome, Will managed that Miley calmed down and felt at ease from the start.

Jada was also the perfect host and she really seemed to care about Miley. Hans was touched by how much they tried to make Miley feel welcome, and it wasn't the first time that he asked himself why Hollywood's most popular family seemed to care so much about his well-being.

After they finished their dinner and were having a drink, Jada suddenly started to talk about a more serious subject:

"Have you already thought about when you're going public with your relationship?"

"Well, we thought we'd still wait a little bit. I mean, we haven't realized it completely yet, so we want to spend some more time together first and get to know each other better" Hans said.

"Sounds reasonable. If you're open for an advice, do it yourself, and don't let any paparazzi catch you beforehand. If it comes out like that, people will be convinced that it's staged and all PR"

"I suppose you're right. But since we've started this subject anyway now, you have about 30 years of experience of living your relationship in public, you got any other important advice?"

This time it was Will who answered:

"I only got one. No matter what happens in public, or is written in some kind of article or social media, if you have a problem, which is only normal, every couple is going through some tough times at one point, take your time to sort it out and ignore everything that's written or said by anybody else. Jada and me let it go too far once, and almost let the media tear us apart, and after that, we made a vow to never let this happen again. If there's an issue, talk to each other, and remember that the only one you're accountable to is your partner. Most importantly, don't leave any unsolved problems behind if one of you has to travel to Europe, go on tour, do a shooting or whatever. There's nothing more dangerous for a relationship than unsolved issues that keep nagging on you for weeks"

Later, when they said goodbye, it was Jada who took Miley a bit apart to talk to her:

"Look, Will and I know that the past couple of years haven't been easy for you. So, if you have to stay in LA on your own for a couple of days and you're afraid of drifting back into old habits, or your so-called friends want to take advantage of Hans absence to pull you back into their party-life, just call me or Will. We will be there for you, especially Will will be able to help you, since he went through a similar phase years ago"

She gave Miley, who had to wipe a tear from her eye, a big hug. The young girl didn't know how to thank Jada, but she asked her:

"Why are you so nice to me? I somehow feel shabby because I really don't think that I deserve any of this"

"Well, foremost because of Hans. He's a great guy, and he has become Will's best friend. You know, when they stopped The Fresh Prince, he was also having this period of self-destruction and self-hatred. He managed to get back on his feet by himself, even more, he made it all the way to the top. But he had to learn the hard way, that real friendship is something that's not to be found easily in Hollywood. I can tell you, there's nothing harder than seeing your husband losing his smile every day a little more. And just when I was convinced that we've reached the lowest point possible, this former basketball player moves in next to us, comes over with a basket full of stupid presents and the most unexpected thing happened. Will found his soulmate, and I will be forever thankful that he made my husband smile and enjoy his life again. But if you ever gonna tell him this, I will kill you"

"Haha, don't worry, your secret is safe. But you're right, it's very hard to feel depressed in his presence"

"True. But that's not the only reason. Even though I only know you for a couple of hours, I can already tell that you're an amazing young woman Miley, and don't let anyone tell you anything else. I know how brutal and fake this entertainment business can be, and you're still so young, even if it feels like you're in it for ages. So, whenever you have a problem, or just need a friend to talk to, you know where to find me"

After these kind words, Miley and Hans said their goodbyes and headed back home. They both took a shower (in different bathrooms) and went straight to bed, since Miley had to catch an early flight. She rested her head on his chest and they were talking about the evening and the last days. Miley still hadn't realized how completely her life had turned around since she met Hans during this PETA event, but she knew that she would definitely miss him like crazy over the next days. And she was also a little scared, because it would the be the first time since they met that she had to make it through the week without his support. But at least her father and godmother would be there with her.

"I really don't know how I'm supposed to survive these next days without you" she said in a sad tone.

"Oh come on, you're gonna be fine. You can always call me, and you have your family with you"

"True. But I suppose that's something we gonna have to get used to. I have to travel a lot, you as well…there will always be some periods of time where we won't be able to be together."

"Well, I suppose that means that we must use the time we have in the best way we can" Hans answered and looked deep into Miley's shiny eyes.

Later that night, when Hans was still awake, lying in bed with Miley in his arms, he thought about what just happened. It was pretty unusual nowadays that it took them so look to sleep together for the first time. And it was completely different than Hans would have expected. He didn't expect her to be so tender and sweet, but more that her craziness would also be part of her sexual life. But this wasn't the case at all, at least not tonight. They took forever to explore and enjoy their bodies, and again, every time Miley touched him, Hans felt like he was struck by lightning. He, on the other hand, spent a lot of time discovering her many tattoos and every single part of her body. In other words, it was the best night of his entire life.

The next morning, he had a very hard time to say goodbye to Miley. About two weeks ago, he couldn't even imagine anything like this, but he had really found that girl that made him happy, and letting her go for 5 days now wasn't easy. But having a relationship with an international pop star, that was probably one of the things you had to accept.

"And you'll behave, alright? If anything should happen, you call me and I'll be on the next flight to Nashville"

"Don't worry, I somehow don't feel at all like provoking any new scandals. I'm gonna miss you like crazy though"

"Same here. But you should head to the airport now, I don't want you to miss your flight"

"It's a private jet, it won't leave without me"

"Right. I still keep forgetting which family I got myself into"

"Haha, you better don't. I'll see you on Saturday"

"Saturday" Hans replied and kissed Miley. And just as she turned around to go to her car, he called her name again.

"Miley"

"Yes?" she asked surprised.

„I love you"

There, he said it. For the first time in his life, he said this sentence to a woman, and the effect of these 3 simple words on Miley were astonishing. Her cheeks blushed, her heartbeat accelerated and her eyes got watery.

She whispered: "I love you too", kissed Hans one more time and headed off to the airport.

He watched as the car left through the gate and tried to realize what had happened to him…just a week ago, he was single by choice, planning to enjoy his life to the fullest, and now he felt bad because his girlfriend was gone for about 2 minutes. He still couldn't believe it though…Miley Cyrus was his girlfriend. One of the things that people liked so much about Hans was the fact that he was walking through Hollywood like Charlie through the chocolate factory. With shiny eyes, beating heart and completely amazed by the fact that he was allowed to meet all these famous people and do all these amazing things, completely forgetting that he was a superstar himself that a lot of VIPs tried to befriend.

Later in the day, while he was trying to keep himself busy, he got a text from one of his friends from Luxembourg. He and his girlfriend had just arrived in the United States, planning to spend the last days of their trip in Los Angeles, so he asked if it Hans had time to meet and catch up, since they hadn't seen each other for some time.

Hans had spent the last few months in Luxembourg, working on his rehabilitation after that horrible knee injury. During this time, he visited the practices and games of the small basketball club in which his brother was still active as a referee as much as he could. It wasn't the club they had grown up in (he went to the US and his brother had major issues with some of the board members), but he fell in love with this club from the moment he stepped in the gym, and you could say that he made some very close friends there. That's why he sent this text back:

"Great idea. I'm just a bit offended you didn't tell me earlier. Anyway, if you can still cancel your hotel booking, do it, I got lots of free rooms"

"Haha, thanks, that sounds great. We didn't want to bother you too much, since we're staying 4 days in LA. But if you insist, we'll gladly accept your offer"

"I do insist. Where are you now anyway?"

"Colorado. We stay for another 2 days in Denver, after that we fly to Las Vegas for 3 days and to finish up, LA"

"Not bad. But call me before you leave Vegas, I'll pick you up at the airport. So, Saturday, my girlfriend comes back and on Sunday the two of you. Sounds like fun"

"Wait, you have a girlfriend? How did that happen?"

„Long story which is better told with a few drinks. But why are you surprised that I have a girlfriend?"

"No idea . See you on Sunday"

Now that was a surprise, but he was looking forward to introduce Miley to some of his Luxembourgish friends. He was hoping they would be able to regularly spend time in this small country between Germany and France, and knowing some people from there might already be a good start. But now, he still had 4 days to kill, and he slowly started to have some ideas what he could do about that.

He spent the first day entirely in his company to get the latest updates, and the news he got from his managers were very encouraging. They would end the year with a net profit of at least 60 million US dollars. Hans thought this was a bit of irony right here. He bought the company mainly because of tax reasons, and now it turned into a real gold mine. That's why he asked one of the secretaries to prepare a document which stated that fifty percent of the profit would be given to his employees as a yearly bonus. They did most of the hard work, so they should be rewarded.

The following day was dedicated to the study of some movie scripts that one of his assistants had selected for him. He always wanted to check the scripts with the most potential by himself, which was more of a pleasure to him than real work, because he loved reading books and scripts.

The title of the script that managed to fascinate him the most was Suicide Squad. The story played in the DC universe, but didn't focus on the super heroes. In the storyline, the Government tried to set up a special unit, consisting of the most feared criminals in the US. The description of the characters was very detailed, and Hans already had some ideas for the cast.

A little bit later, Miley called him to talk about everything she had done in Nashville till now. She spent a lot of time with her godmother, who was amazed about how Miley seemed to have changed, and couldn't wait to meet Hans in person. His girlfriend would also send him a video she wanted him to see. It was a remake of Dolly Parton's biggest hit, Jolene. It was the first title of a video series called "The Backyard Sessions", which consisted in Miley, together with a small country band, playing some of her godmother's greatest hits (and also a few other country songs) in the backyard of her family's farm house.

After seeing the video, he only texted back one sentence:

"My God, you're amazing"

"That means you like it?"

"Sexy, unbelievably talented artist, great song…what more could you ask for?"

"Haha, thanks for the compliments. How is LA?"

„Good till now. I spent most of the time in the office, reading through new projects and scripts, and at least one of them is really promising. Oh, and one of my friends from Luxembourg called me, they gonna arrive in LA on Sunday and stay for 4 nights. I offered them to stay at my house, and I thought you might want to meet them. If that's ok for you?"

„Sure, I would be happy to meet some of your friends from Luxembourg"

After this, they kept talking for a couple more minutes before Miley had to head back to work.

The next two days were dedicated to his fitness program. Although he didn't had any plans to restart his NBA career, he still felt the need to keep his body in shape. Especially now that he had a girlfriend who was 8 years younger than him, he had to make sure to look good for her. He met up with Kobe Bryant in the training facilities of the Los Angeles Lakers. Kobe resigned a bit more than a year ago, but other than Hans he did it voluntarily and on his own terms. At the beginning of Hans career, they didn't really get along, but they always respected each other. Hans was able to reach the NBA finals with his team, the Orlando Magic, once but lost the best of 7 series against Kobe and his Lakers team 4-2. Especially the last game of the series became legendary. The Lakers won 110-107 and crowned themselves as NBA champions. Kobe scored 58 points, the most points ever recorded in a game of the finals. Hans wasn't much worse and was able to put up 53 points. For the whole game, they went at each other with no mercy, and fans all over the world agreed that there has never been such a duel in a final game. After Hans had to leave the court after committing his 6th foul about 5 seconds before the end of the game, for the first time in the history of the Staples Center, the fans got up from their seats to give a standing ovation to a player from the opponent team. Later, Hans admitted that this was his hardest, but at the same time sweetest defeat in his career. What gained him a lot of respect was the fact that he, unlike most superstars and sadly also most of his teammates, didn't head to the locker room as fast as possible, but congratulated every single one of the Lakers players, applauded during the title ceremony and all at the end, still with tears in his eyes, even thanked the fans as he finally left the court. From this day on he had a special relationship with this city, every time the Magic played here, he got a warm welcome from the fans, and the Lakers management tried more than once to sign him, but his loyalty to the Florida franchise never made a deal possible.

Also his relationship with Kobe got better and better over time, and during the Olympic Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro where they were able to bring home the gold medal (after the Dream Team got destroyed 4 years ago by a couple of teams, only finishing in 5th place, Kobe and Hans were the only All-Stars ready to take on the challenge), they became very close friends. Until today, people loved them for being ready to lead a bunch of college kids and even managed to beat teams like Argentina, Spain or Serbia.

More and more people gathered around as they went through their workout, and also a couple of young Laker players were amongst the spectators. And with Kobe being Kobe, they got challenged to a 2 on 2 tournament, where they painfully learned that they still had a long way to go to make it to the top of the NBA.

After they were done with practice, Kobe and Hans went to a restaurant which belonged to the UCLA training center to have lunch, and after a couple of minutes, Kobe said:

"Looks like you recovered pretty well from your injury, 1 or 2 weeks of training camp, and you would be back in shape"

"Yeah, I'm definitely surprised about how well it has recovered. In the beginning, I really thought I would never be able to fully use it again. But thanks again for all your help and advice, I don't think I would have made it this far without it."

"Well, I still knew from my torn Achilles tendon how hard this is, physically and mentally. I was 32 at the time, and getting yourself motivated for rehab was the hardest part. And my goal was to play for a couple more seasons, while you were only focused on being able to have a normal life. But since you're back in such a good shape, how about giving a comeback for the Lakers for, say…2-3 years?"

"Haha, no thanks. You know it just wouldn't be right. Even though the Lakers are the only franchise that might have been able to lure me away from Orlando towards the end of my career. But I'm done with the NBA for good. The only thing that bothers me a bit is that I never really had the opportunity to say goodbye."

"True. Having this one last game is always something special", Kobe said and looked at Hans. "You have any plans for the weekend? We could go to a game and talk about how everything was better in our times"

"Hm, sorry, not this weekend. My girlfriend comes back from Nashville on Saturday, and on Sunday some friends from Luxembourg"

"Wait. YOU have a girlfriend?"

"Yes. I have a girlfriend. I really don't know why everybody is so surprised about me having a girlfriend?"

Kobe preferred to not say anything to that, but asked with a big smile:

"And who's the happy girl?"

"Miley Cyrus…"

"Miley Cyrus? Seriously? That's…surprising…she doesn't really represent the type of girl you're usually dating"

"Tell me something new. But I don't know…somehow she just flashed me"

"Haha, who would have thought? The most wanted bachelor of the US gets caught by a former teen star. But I suppose it's not official yet? I probably would have heard about it."

"No, we don't want to rush anything. Miley had a pretty hard time over the past years, and I think it's more important to get her back on her feet first"

"Yeah, I could follow a bit of her through the media, she really did it all. But I wish you only the best, I hope she's the one for you…I mean, you're not really getting any younger…"

"Well, thanks a lot" Hans grumbled.


End file.
